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Description:

In this video, I explore what Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development is and how it works. I also share how educators have built on this with Bruner's idea of scaffolding.

Transcript:

You've probably noticed that there are things you can do on your own and things that are impossible to do. But there are also certain things in a middle zone that you can't do on your own quite yet but you can accomplish them with the a little help. That help might help from a teacher, from a parent or guardian, or from a peer. But it might also be a resource like a book, a video, or a podcast. This is true not only of gaining new skills but also learning new information or understanding new concepts.

In 1962, American's translated the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky's work and referred to this space the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). He developed this idea as a criticism of psychometric testing in education, which viewed intelligence as permanent and fixed.

Here's how ZPD works. At the center, you have the things you can do on your own. On the outside, you have the things you cannot do. But in this middle zone you have the Zone of Proximal Development, which are the things you can do with guidance and support.

In 1976, Jerome Bruner applied Vygotsky's theory to the educational setting with the concept of scaffolding. Here, educators provide supports, called scaffolds, to help students master the learning. Then, like the scaffolds in a building, teachers pull back the scaffolds as students master the knowledge and the supports become unnecessary. At this point, the ZPD grows outward as students master new knowledge with new scaffolds.

With scaffolds, you tap into prior knowledge and build on it with key supports. These might be tutorials, videos, and visual aids. They might involve sentence stems and front-loaded vocabulary for language.You might provide leveled reading, graphic organizers, and additional think time. Or it could mean breaking directions into smaller tasks. However, scaffolding can be challenging. It takes time and energy, which is a struggle with large class sizes. But when it works, it can lead to better learning and deeper thinking.